University of Minnesota Human Rights Center – Upper Midwest International Human Rights Fellowship Grant

The Human Rights Center encourages residents of the Upper Midwest – including students, teachers, lawyers, health professionals, community leaders, and others – to undertake practical experience in human rights organizations. The Fellowship is designed to promote human rights by providing practical training in varied aspects of human rights work worldwide. The fellowship of placement should provide both training for the individual and assistance to the organization.

Participants will also foster links between communities in the Upper Midwest and human rights activities throughout the world. Participants will return with a deeper commitment to a lifetime of work in human rights and will contribute to bringing human rights concerns home to communities in the Upper Midwest. The human rights movement itself can benefit greatly from collaboration among individuals from different social, economic, and cultural origins, as well as persons with both rural and urban backgrounds.

Applications are particularly encouraged from Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Applicants are encouraged to arrange placements with local, regional, national, or international human rights organizations. Applicants must secure a written commitment from the proposed sponsoring organization indicating that the organization will accept the fellow if funding can be arranged. In searching for possible fellowship sites, you may wish to consult the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library at: http://www.umn.edu/humanrts/links/links.htm. Applicants may wish to contact organizations that have previously sponsored interns and fellows from the Human Rights Center. A list of previous internship and fellowship grants are available from the Human Rights Center and is posted at: http://www.unm.edu/humanrts/links/intrn_web.htm.

The Human Rights Center will award approximately twenty grants. Grants will range from $1000 to $4,000, averaging about $3,200, and are intended to cover travel and living expenses, incurred during the approximately ten-week fellowship experience.

Applications must be received by Monday, February 25, 2008, 4:00 p.m. Central Time.

To obtain an application and for further information, please contact:

University of Minnesota
Human Rights Center
229-19th Avenue South
Mondale Hall, Suite N120
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: 612-626-2226